view: front

Description:

This cross-legged figure has detailed facial features with porcelain-inlaid eyes and black painted pupils. The plaited skullcap and armlets suggest chiefly status. There is a circular discoloured patch evident on the torso with a nail hole at the top and bottom and this may indicate where fetish material was placed. The figure displays pierced ears and a hole in the centre of the full lips indicates where a pipe or other object may have been placed. The posture this figure adopts is related to thoughtfulness and wisdom among the people of the Kongo region. There is a vertical crack in the wood from the torso to the base.